The End Of An Era

So here we are, like Frodo and Sam, at the very end. With much trepidation and desperation we wait for july 15th and the final part of the Harry Potter movies. Will the climax be satisfying enough or will it leave us cringing? Though rumors are that the cast and crew have finally read the books. But then, we can only hope.

It’s been a pretty epic journey with its ups and downs and bad haircuts. We take you through the ten years of the harry potter saga…

Like Hugh Hefner’s string of lovers, Harry potter has also had it’s fair share of directors

Adapting from a book which has a major cult following comprising of almost everybody who can read and write, was obviously not a task for the faint hearted. Not everyone could do a peter Jackson and pull off a lord of the rings. Chris Columbus, after many bigwigs refused, was the first to jump into the potter bandwagon, however, After he realized, that the potter fangirls were not to be messed with by making not so epic first two parts, he scrambled out as speedily as he’d got in claiming that he was “burned out”. The torch passed on to Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, all who managed to keep the ship afloat, and finally to

David Yates who bought about some much needed edge with the order of the phoenix. He appears to have learnt from the shoddy attempts of the previous movies and has finally got it right in the last movie. Hallelujah to that!! And from what we’ve seen in the trailers, he’s made some darn good shite.

All Zat Jazz

Harry Potter soundtracks have always been well executed. Let it be Williams’s ‘hedwig’s theme’ or Doyle’s heart wrenching “death of cedric”. From movie to movie, each composer, retaining williams’s original base, has built up one magnificent soundtrack after another. Though they’re not the most critically acclaimed ones, they are what a fantasy franchise needs-Rich and melodic. Although, Alexandre Desplat, the composer for the final deathly hallows parts takes away the cake. You know what they say about the french, they do it with style. Desplat, has taken the soundtrack to another level. It’s deliciously dark, edgy and sets the perfect tone for the movies.

FromChocolate Frogs to Puberty

From poop jokes to naked Broadway plays (read equus), the actors have come a long way. When the socerors’s stone came out, none of the characters except a few seemed to fit. Richard Harris (may he RIP) as Dumbledore was, well, a bore, Emma Watson, was too pretty to be a Hermoine, Radcliff was jumpy and didn’t really deliver much. However, for better or for worse, most of them grew on us. Though admittedly, the biggest disappointments have to be Ginny and Dumbledore. From the plethora of perfectly good women in Britain, they chose the most nondescript one for one of the spunkiest female roles. And if we thought Michael Gambon would be an improvement after Richard Harris, we were so wrong. He did look a little healthier, but that was it. He should’ve taken a leaf out of Ian McKellen’s book, who was brilliant as Gandalf, proving that even if your character doesn’t have a hod bod and hundred vestal virgins at his service, you can still kick some major character ass!

Some of the actors who DID fit and killed it were, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, loved the hair to perfection. Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, couldn’t have imagined anyone else playing it. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, one word....yum. Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, as he bought about his evil goodness. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange and so on.

Posters - Now and then

The first 5 movies had posters mostly with the cast randomly standing with badass looks on their faces and pointing wands into space.

Exhibite :

However, the recent pretty awesome, posters indicate that they’ve finally grown a pair.

The Look, The Feel And Everything in Between

The thing about the Harry Potter books is that whatever age you’re at, you interpret them differently. Like a nine year old would be fascinated with the magic and the flying brooms and such. A sixteen year old would see the relationships, the plot and read it like a mystery with a beginning a middle and an end. A twenty year old would peel away the layers and see the darkness in the plot. The divide between the muggles and the wizards, the greed, power, the gaping faults in Dumbledore’s character.
The movies, though mostly entertaining, are a tad difficult to connect with. The first two movies were handled lightly, focusing on the entertainment value. Prisoner of azkaban moved to darker waters, but still rushed through the essential plot defining parts. Goblet of fire, though rushed again, was an improvement, visually and technically. Ralph Fiennes as voldemort, bought about the much needed darkness in the movies. The maze, cedric’s death was done pretty awesomely. But it was David Yates who bought the edge with the order of the phoenix, half blood prince and finally both the deathly hallows. Contrary to the popular belief, it would’ve been better if they had one director to stick though the series. The different directors, bought variety, but couldn’t improve on their mistakes. David Yates, took three movies to finally get to the splendor that is going to be the second part of the deathly hallows.
However, for good, bad or the ugly, this is the end my friends.
What we need now is a new fancy series…